Solid samples may include, for example, rocks, ore, sediment, minerals, cement, iron alloys, oil shale, slag, graphite, fiberglass, pesticides, fertilizer, and other complex and composite materials. To determine the elemental composition of a solid sample, including major and trace elements, or other characteristics, the sample must be broken down into smaller particles. For some analysis, that might be sufficient. Optionally the particles may then need to be compacted into a pellet or briquette to be suitable for analysis. The prepared samples are then subjected to spectroscopic analysis in a suitable XRF instrument, including energy-dispersive XRF or wave-dispersive XRF instruments. Analysis may take place either in the lab or using a hand-held XRF instrument in the field.
Conventional sample-preparing devices, for example, mills and grinders, use repetitive rotational or figure-eight mechanisms to prepare particulates from solid samples. In these devices, a solid sample is shaken with a freely moving object in a vessel. As the freely moving object strikes the wall of the vessel, the solid sample becomes trapped between the object and the wall of the vessel, which causes the solid sample to break down into particulates. After the particulates are formed, a conventional pellet press may be used to form the particulates into a pellet or briquette in order to be analyzed.
Many of the aforementioned sample-preparing devices are either floor-standing or table-top units with heavy-duty motors and other components which can weigh 100 to 500 pounds or more, and require large amounts of power for proper operation, and, although suitable for use in a lab, are not suited for use in the field, or at a site of interest, including a quarry or cement plant, due to the terrain or due to other constraints including a lack of power supply.
There remains a need for a portable sample pulverizing system, a portable pelletizing system, and a portable pulverizing and pelletizing system and method.